Program organization

Alexandria, Va., is a compact city with more than 128,000 residents living in a 15 square mile area. Many of the city's 13 elementary schools, two middle schools and one high school have been encouraging walking and bicycling to school and working to increase safety around the schools for several years before the Safe Routes to School programs appeared in 2006.

Broad Street Elementary School is located in the borough of Mechanicsburg, an older section of town where the traditional pattern of the blocks make it a great place to walk. Many of the school's students already walked to school, but there was no formal Safe Routes to School program or an annual Walk to School Day until 2005.

The New Jersey Department of Transportation's (NJDOT) Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program is the culmination of a series of planning and developmental activities resulting in a comprehensive program to assist New Jersey communities in developing and implementing projects that encourage safe walking and bicycling to school. This series of planning and development occurred in three stages with major accomplishments along the way.

Whitaker Elementary School is surrounded by residential streets, making it an ideal location for a Walk to School program. Without a formal program in place, Dr. Gary Miller, a professor from the Health and Exercise Science department at Wake Forest University approached the assistant principal with a plan to start one at the elementary school.

Chapel Hill, N.C., is a town of partnerships and relationships; between the University of North Carolina and the Town Council, residents and college students and community groups and schools. One such relationship is between the local elementary schools, local government and Go! Chapel Hill Active Living by Design, a national program that helped to facilitate the spread and success of Safe Routes to School programs in Chapel Hill.

Safe Kids Tucson, through the Tucson Medical Center in Pima County, AZ, recently was awarded $40,790 in federal Safe Routes to School (SRTS) funds to set up SRTS pedestrian and bicycle safety education and encouragement programs at seven schools in the county. These schools are Bloom Elementary School, Johnson Primary School, Lawrence Intermediate School, Rattlesnake Ridge Elementary School, Whitmore Elementary School, Keeling Elementary School and Davis Primary Magnet School.

A walking school bus is a group of children walking to school with one or more adults. This tip sheet developed by the National Center for Safe Routes to School offers the basics of getting a Walking School Bus off the ground by either starting small or developing a more established program.

Resource File: 

Walking_School_Bus_Basics.pdf